Air Force readies crucial test of a blazingly fast cruise missile

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A crucial test of the California coast today could usher in a new era of high-speed warfare. Or not.

The last time the U.S. Air Force tried to test its hypersonic X51A WaveRider cruise missile, the craft plunged into the Pacific Ocean.

The Los Angeles Times reports the unmanned X-51 WaveRider is expected to reach Mach 6 Tuesday when it's dropped by a B-52 bomber and takes flight off the Southern California coast near Point Mugu.

View full sizeIn this July 17, 2009 photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, an X-51A WaveRider hypersonic flight test vehicle is uploaded to an Air Force Flight Test Center B-52 for fit testing at Edwards Air Force Base. Four scramjet-powered Waveriders were built for the Air Force. The Los Angeles Times says the unmanned X-51 WaveRider is expected to reach Mach 6 _ or about 3,600 mph _ Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, when it's dropped by a B-52 bomber and takes flight off the Southern California coast near Point Mugu. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Chad Bellay)

The sleek craft will already be at 50,000 feet when it is sent on its way. If all goes well, in the space of 300 seconds, the X51A will hit 3,600 miles per hour - about six times the speed of sound.

At that speed the vehicle could travel from New York to Los Angeles in about 46 minutes.

Defense planners say perfecting the technology required for such extreme flight speed is crucial to developing the next generation of missiles and spacecraft, and even commercial aircraft.

The Pentagon sees hypersonic flight as the "new stealth" because craft capable of such speeds could more easily evade and or simply outrun attempts to shoot them down.

Future versions of th X51A would allow the U.S. to deliver military strikes anywhere on the planet within a matter of minutes. The current generation of cruise missiles may take hours to reach their targets.